Day 2: fed and pet sacred deer in Nara. Hiked Fushi Iminari. Longest Day Ever.
I love animals. When I was saw my first road-side petting zoo at the age of 6, I befriended a llama (the fact that he thought my hair was a bale of hay is irrelevant). I could spend all day at a petting zoo, attempting to pet (ok, and ride) every single type of stinky farm animal there is. I call every dog I see a “puppy” even if it’s bigger than me, and even if I’m well aware it’s a full-grown dog.
So when Eric told us he wanted to take us to Nara, a city known for sacred deer that roam freely among its streets, I got pretty excited. Unfortunately, Kayla was not so stoked on the idea of deer due to past experiences involving hissing deer. I get it though, I’ve had my experiences of hissing and very lethal Canadian Geese. But I have a feeling this experience has softened her heart to these majestic little Bambis, even if she won’t admit it.
According to the legendary history of Kasuga Shrine, mythological god Takemizakuchi arrived in Nara on a white deer to guard the newly built capital of Heijo-kyo. Since then, the deer have been regarded as heavenly animals, protecting the city and the country (Thanks wikipedia!).
I imagine heavenly deer to look majestic and have some kind of neon glow, but these deer seemed to have missed the memo, as most of them just looked fat and lazy. As soon as we reached Nara Park, we began to see groups of deer huddled in front of one of the pagodas. Eric and I bought a stack of shika sembei (deer biscuits) from one of the cute old lady vendors to feed the deer. These deer have a sixth sense when it comes to figuring out who has sembei. They bee line it towards you and won’t stop digging their noses at you until you surrender and give them what they want.
After giving half of our stack away, we walked further into the park in search of more deer. Walking with sembei in our hands, Eric began to get curious as to what these biscuits tasted like. I laughed, not surprised by his curiosity (I mean, this guy actually enjoys eating the doggy treat “Milkbones”). Jordan and I egged him on. Turning into a three-part dare, Eric took a bite, followed by myself, and then Jordan. With the taste of cardboard in our mouths, we wondered why the deer went so crazy over these biscuits.
We ventured on to Todai-ji, the largest wooden building in the world that houses the largest bronze Buddha statue in the world. Walking amidst temples and shrines surrounded by deer was an incredibly unique and beautiful sight, and it truly bought my inner kid out. Before we concluded our time in Nara, Eric and I just had to have one last fun with the deer. As Japan is very much an overly-bowing culture, the deer have observed this tradition and will bow for biscuits. With the last few biscuits we had, I would bow and wait for the deer to bow. I would bow again. So would the deer. One more time we would exchange bows and then Eric would yell at me to stop teasing them and feed them already.
As we were approaching the late-afternoon, Eric proposed visiting his favorite place in Japan - Fushi Iminari. He had been telling me about this place since we first started dating and I was excited that I would finally get a chance to see it with him. He prefaced this suggestion with “it’s going to be a bit of a hike”. Thinking it would be a light stroll, we hopped on a train excited for our next pit stop.
We were welcomed by a gigantic, bright orange Torii gate, a sneak peek of what we were to see next. As we walked past the temple, dozens of these Torii were lined together creating a bright orange tunnel. Words and pictures cannot even bring justice to how beautiful these shrines looked. The farther we walked, the more endless the Torii appeared to be. The walk turned into a hike up the mountain, which definitely made each of us feel a little bit out of shape. Dana and I were so amazed whenever we passed by a Japanese woman hiking in high heels and doing so pigeon-toed (which we guess is part of Japan’s “cute” culture).
After walking through 32,000 Toriis and walking up countless sets of stairs, we finally reached the top of the mountain, complete with an incredible view of the entire city. Eric pointed out to Kayla the first Torii gate we saw now looked like a miniature cell phone charm - a symbol of our accomplishment.
By the time we made our descent and reached the train station, it was approaching dinner time and we were all starving from our adventure-filled day. As flawless as our day already had been, our evening managed to followed suit. We found food at a basement Irish Pub in Osaka. It actually felt authentically Irish if you overlook the fact that the charming Irish band donning Drop Kick Murphy shirts had all Japanese members. Jordan was so enamored by them that he took a picture, and they were so flattered that they stopped mid-song to bow and say thank you. Eric, Dana and I had been missing Western food, so our platter of wings really hit the spot.
What Eric and I were really looking forward to was finding a hookah lounge. Hookah is one of our long-standing traditions visiting lounges all over the world (San Diego, Calgary, Boracay, Tokyo and Osaka). This lounge made us wish Eric had been placed in Osaka, rather than Shiroishi, as we would easily have frequented this place. We were welcomed by the owner, a very charming Israeli man, who soon became our friend as he joined our table. We exchanged stories of travel and Japan life over hookah and drinks. He even cooked Dana a free dish of Jerk Chicken. Dana certainly got her taste of home when the owner’s Jamaican buddy, Barry, came in and they legitimately pounded and said “respect” to each other.
I don’t think any day could get more full than this one. I mean full in all senses of the word. With good company and a day packed with adventures, this is a type of day that you are truly thankful for.
From my set of recent bizarre facebook status updates, one can guess that I’ve been doing my fair share of traveling in Japan. It’s been over a week since we’ve been back and I still have yet to upload pictures. Not to mention, I haven’t written a single post since first moving here in January. Although it’s only been a span of four months, a lot has happened in between. I got married at Shiroishi City Hall, experienced the Snow Festival of Sapporo, honeymooned in the Philippines, obtained three part-time teaching jobs, and most recently, traveled to Osaka, Kyoto and Hiroshima. It’s been a busy, enlightening and money-sucking 2012 so far …and I can’t believe how undisciplined I’ve been at documenting these events.
And so, today is as good as any to remedy myself, starting with our latest trip.
Day 1: “Riding a Shinkansen is like riding a dinosaur-airplane-train. Osaka bound!” Japanese word of the day: Shinkansen: Bullet Train - a.k.a. the fastest train I’ve ever ridden in my entire life. Eric downloaded a speedometer app on his iPhone and we were reaching speeds of 180 mph (or 290 kph in Canadian/rest of the world). On the outside, they arguably (literally… we argued about this on the train platform) look like a dinosaur/train hybrid. On the inside, they look like an airplane, complete with foldable lunch trays and reclining seats. Some of the newer trains have flat screen tv’s that relay the news, display maps… in English. You probably don’t understand unless you’ve been to Japan, but that’s a big deal.
After about 5 hours of train-riding and a brief layover in Tokyo, we arrived at Osaka. It’s funny how 5 hours of sitting makes you incredibly exhausted, so we immediately set out in search for our hostel. Geography fact of the day: Eric and I live in Shiroishi, approximately 32 kilometers north of Fukushima. On March 11, 2011, Japan was hit with a major earthquake and tsunami causing a nuclear power plant in Fukushima to experience nuclear meltdown and system failure. Many in the area were evacuated (and are still displaced to this day) because of radiation leakage. Well, our hostel happened to be located in an area called Fukushima. So the cheesy joke of the day was, “we traveled all this way just to end up back in Fukushima” har har.
Its name seemed to be the only similarity they shared. Fukushima was a nice little nook full of charming little restaurants and close to a train station. The hostel location was close to perfect if not for the restaurant across the street. Every morning we would wake to an annoyingly repetitive midi-like song “aiming” to attract customers.
We were welcomed to the hostel by a cooky Japanese man with round glasses and thick frames, possibly intoxicated, and a spacey receptionist, possibly high. With the better part of the evening left to our first day, we decided to explore the city. I found a giant red ferris wheel in one of the hostel brochures, which was to be our focal point of the night. Following the train tracks, we walked to the Hep Five Ferris Wheel, located on top of a mall in the middle of the city landscape.
Jordan and Eric went for a bromantic ride, while the ladies enjoyed their own car. By far, this has been the coolest ferris wheel I’ve been on, well worth our 500 yen. Not only do you get a picturesque view of the city, but the car is air conditioned and complete with an iPod speaker system. The boys blasted a romantic “Lucky” by Colbie Caillat and Jason Mraz, while we appropriately listened to “Such Great Heights” by The Postal Service. On the ferris wheel, we spotted a mega entertainment center, each floor dedicated to a different activity: karaoke, bowling, ping pong, arcade games. Although we were on separate cars, we all had the same thought, “bowling rematch!”
After a small detour to Uniqlo (the Japanese version of GAP) to buy socks, bowling occupied the rest of our night. Continuing the day’s theme, it was guys against girls in this overly-fancy, glowing bowling alley. With three against two, the boys had no chance. By game two, we were all feeling the exhaustion from the day’s travels, it was a pathetic sight to watch, and only Eric managed to get a score over 100. Although, my proud moment came during game 1 where I tied for first with my competitive (and wonderful) husband :).
***Thank you to facebook self and Kayla Brizo for reminding me what we did each day on our Japan trip.
Thank you to all who are supporting this movement for justice.
The post below showed up in my dashboard by a random blogger I follow. It’s been liked and re-blogged 84,010 times. By the time you read this, that number will be even higher. Today is huge, and it’s just the beginning.
GET INVOLVED. STOP AT NOTHING. THE WORLD MUST KNOW.
I dare you to stop scrolling through your dashboard. Stop checking your Facebook newsfeed that you’ve already checked two seconds ago. Stop updating your Twitter and seeing what your favorite celebrities are saying. Stop watching funny and nonsense videos on Youtube. Take time to educate yourself to MAKE A DIFFERENCE in this world. This is your chance! WATCH THIS VIDEO.
Let’s make JOSEPH KONY Famous!!
Who is JOSEPH KONY?
He is THE WORST LIVING CRIMINAL. He abducts children and makes them use guns to kill their own parents. He takes girls and forces them to be sex slaves. He calls his abducted children the Lord’s Resistance Army, AKA the LRA. He has abducted over 30,000 children and forced them to be child soldiers in Central Africa. He remains at large because he is INVISIBLE to the world. FEW know his name, even FEWER know his crimes. WE ARE MAKING HIM FAMOUS! Because when he is, the world will unite against him and demand his arrest.
We can help make a change. We can make a difference.
I feel so inspired. I feel the need to help and make a difference. This has to happen in 2012. We can’t let him go around and keep doing this to children in Central Africa. Let’s make his name known so he can be stopped. HE CAN NO LONGER BE INVISIBLE!
REBLOG IF YOU CARE.
This will not make your blog ugly, please take a moment to reblog and get the word out. SHARE THIS TO EVERYONE! Be a part of something BIG and when they catch this man, you would be able to say.. “I HELPED.”
2012 has entailed a move across the world from Canada to Japan. While my first week in Japan has been overwhelming and stunningly so, it still felt like my move wasn’t real. My mind processed it as a holiday vacation - and why the heck not, Eric and I were staying in a really nice hotel in Roppongi, eating out everyday (including the best sushi I’ve ever tasted in my entire life), seeing tourist attractions that Tokyo has to offer, celebrating some of its rich culture and traditions, and of course ringing in the New Year.
While our mini vacation is incredibly “blog-worthy”, I felt pretentious making my first posts about all the cool things I got to do (and all the cool things you probably didn’t get to do). Those posts are soon to be written of course, but I wanted to first write about something… normal. Why today marks reality slapping me in the face: I did it. I actually moved to Japan.
I’m incredibly thankful that Eric has already spent 6 months settling in to Shiroishi ahead of me because in a way, he has been my sensai - calming my fears when the toilet makes splashing noises as soon as I sit on the seat (what I believe to be Japan’s cure for pee fright); explaining what is in the seaweed and rice triangle thingy that I am eating; cluing me in that natto is, in fact, as disgusting as it looks (see figure 1); giving me tips on how to stay warm in our freezing apartment that lacks central heating; navigating the confusion of Japanese trains and subways (see figure 2); and generally teaching me how to get around and get by.
But today was like that moment in Karate Kid when Daniel catches a fly with chopsticks after following Mr. Miyagi’s lead (lame reference? Probably. See figure 2. Fun fact: Miyagi is the name of the prefecture I live in). Today was my day of independence.
I started work at the Berlitz Language Center, as a part-time English teacher. This is located in Sendai, a 50-minute train ride from where I live in Shiroishi. While this may not seem like a challenging feat, I am slightly direction-challenged, especially in a foreign country. Remembering how to get from the apartment to the train station, getting on the right train, getting off at the right station, walking to Berlitz and all the way back took quite a bit of brain power (and memorizing ridiculous landmarks - including the dildo-like figures that sit on top of the bridge leading up to the apartment. Fun fact: these are giant models of “girl’s dolls” that were actually used as dildos back in the day). Though I can see how the commute can be taxing, I can’t begin to describe how beautiful Japan’s countryside is. Shiroishi is sandwiched in between two mountain ranges, making the town incredibly windy, but provides a majestic backdrop to my commute. On the way are ponds lined with ducks and swans, as well as rice fields browned over by winter’s touch. The view alone make the 50 minutes go by fast.
After a quick break at home, I’m off to achieve another task - the grocery store and the dry cleaner’s. Aside from the few mishaps- nearly trapping myself in the dry cleaner’s because of the confusing doors (to my defense, all the panels are glass and look strikingly similar. The doors don’t automatically slide until you find the button that allows you to exit. It’s harder than it sounds, I swear) and the store lady politely laughing at me… oh, and my difficulty in figuring out the difference between margarine and butter (most of it is written in Japanese), it’s safe to say… I’ve conquered Japan, kind of.
It’s funny how these simple tasks make you realize how unreal your situation may be. What’s normal for me at home is so foreign to me here. Yet, there’s something strangely comforting about it. These new accomplished feats bring on a sense of normalcy amidst what I still feel to be abnormal.
“After two years we felt that we could approach your sixteen verses of the fourth chapter of Genesis. My old gentlemen felt that these words were very important too - ‘Thou shalt’ and ‘Do thou’. And this was the gold from our mining: ‘Thou Mayest’ ‘Thou mayest rule over sin’…
Samuel said, “It’s a fantastic story. And I’ve tried to follow and maybe I’ve missed somewhere. Why is this word so important?”
Lee’s hand shook as he filled the delicate cups. He drank his down in one gulp. “Don’t you see?” he cried. “The American Standard translation orders men to triumph over sin, and you can call sin ignorance. The King James translation makes a promise in ‘Thou shalt,’ meaning that men will surely triumph over sin. But the Hebrew word timshel - ‘Thou mayest’ - that gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the wolrd. That says the way is open. That throws it right back on a man. For if ‘Thou mayest’ - it is also true that ‘Thou mayest not.’ Don’t you see?”
“Yes, I see. I do see. But you do not believe this is divine law. Why do you feel its importance?”
“Ah!” said Lee. “I’ve wanted to tell you this for a long time. I even anticipated your questions and I am well prepared. Any writing which ha influenced the thinking and the lives of innumerable people is important. Now, there are many millions in their sects and churches who feel the order, ‘Do thou,’ and throw their weight into obedience. And there are millions more who feel predestination in ‘Thou shalt.’ Nothing they may do can interfere with what will be. But ‘Thou mayest’! Why, that makes a man great, that gives him stature with the gods, for in his weakness and his filth and his murder of his brother he has still the great choice. He can choose his course and fight it through and win.”
A courtyard full of Costa Rican children. All playing, screaming, running. I didn’t even know where to look, where to go, what to focus on. Until I heard laughter above me.
I watched these two best friends sit atop a jungle gym observing the chaos around them, content with the world rushing past them.
To celebrate my “one month until i leave for Japan”, I present the world with this catchy gem. Admit it, you can’t stop singing along to the words you don’t even understand.
Thanks to Eric for getting me addicted to this song.
It’s crazy what your body will do without you even noticing.
The times when you’re on auto-pilot… you suddenly realize you’ve been driving for the last half hour and you can’t recall the last 29 minutes.
Even breathing tends to be a subconscious thing. I fail to notice its intricacies or that I’ve just taken a breath twenty times in one minute.
A cold sweat, a sensation of the gut being punched, shaky tears, and not knowing a single reason why you woke up this way. A bad dream unremembered? Anxiety turned physical?
Sometimes, my body just does what it does without the conscious consent of its owner. Perhaps my current awakened state of mind is causing some sense of paranoia…
But what if my mind and body separate for good, constantly on auto-pilot, only conscious to life by chance?
Erosional dissection of an ash deposit at Pinatubo volcano in the Philippines created this intricate pattern. The thin, fine-grained ash deposit at the surface was produced by secondary explosions in still-hot pyroclastic-flow deposits from the devastating eruptions of June 15, 1991. This photo was taken on November 27, 1991, along the Maruanot River valley NW of Pinatubo. (photo by Chris Newhall, 1991; via Global Volcanism Program)
Hard to believe this is a photo. It looks like a beautiful, intricate pencil drawing.
1991. Age 3. I remember looking outside my window in Metro Manila, confused. Kuya Sherwin asked Mom if we could go outside and play in the snow. Mom smiled, but nodded her head no. It’s toxic snow, volcanic ash.
… perhaps not everything is how they appear to be.
![austinkleon:
HOW TO CARE FOR INTROVERTS
I’m an extravert, married to the Queen of introverts, and I too approve this message!
mlarson:
As a former(-ish) introvert, I think most of this is pretty spot-on. [via @sheatsb]
UPDATE: this is a list by Linda Kreger Silverman, most probably from the chapter “How To Care For An Introvert,” in her book, Upside-Down Brilliance: The Visual Spatial Learner.](http://imgur.com/b1dmB.jpg "austinkleon:
HOW TO CARE FOR INTROVERTS
I’m an extravert, married to the Queen of introverts, and I too approve this message!
mlarson:
As a former(-ish) introvert, I think most of this is pretty spot-on. [via @sheatsb]
UPDATE: this is a list by Linda Kreger Silverman, most probably from the chapter “How To Care For An Introvert,” in her book, Upside-Down Brilliance: The Visual Spatial Learner.")
